Landing in Zambia

We are in Lusaka (Zambia), for a 3-month volunteering experience with Sport and Cooperation Network through the Castilla y León “Youth Solidarity” program. 

We still can’t believe we are here, in Africa!

We arrived at Lusaka in the afternoon of the 31^st of December, and we are still getting used to the new habits, climate, language (here we speak English) and work methods.

Sport and Cooperation Network sent us here to impulse the project “Support for education, health, integration and gender equality of the young population of Zambia through sports”, whose main objective is the construction and setting up of sports facilities with a medical dispensary within an area run by the Salesian Sisters of Don Bosco, called City of Hope.

The idea is to have these facilities working as a Sports / Education Center, open to the whole community.

The project has been planned and polished, and while it is awaiting funding, we are here to try and improve it and gather information on how to carry out the activities.

We are already part of the group of volunteers who work here for the Salesian Sisters, and, like the others, we are working on whatever is needed in order to improve the functioning of the center.

City of Hope is a campus that belongs to the Salesian nuns of Don Bosco, in which they run a school for children from low-income families, a training center for adults and a residence for orphan girls, who also attend the school.

It is a beautiful place, very well taken care of by the nuns and other workers, and that, as the name suggests, inspires hope. A vast space full of opportunities. Within it, the nuns have reserved an area for Sport Network and its project.

We have been here just a few days, but they are enough to make us feel part of the City of Hope team (teachers, workers, caretakers, nuns, volunteers…). The reception has been great by both the adults and the girls who currently live here (about 40 girls in the center).

They have put all of their trust and affection without knowing us. The initial language barrier, or the fact that we are still learning how things work in the center, don’t matter at all. They trust us, and it shows.

We hope that we can return this trust and be able to really be helpful here. We will put all of our efforts into making this happen.

Our adventure begins…

Miguel and Lidia are Sport and Cooperation Network volunteers in Zambia, sent by the Castilla y León “Youth Solidarity” program.